It's time for musical car seats! Help me pick a booster!

Ok...we have a 2005 Chrysler Town and Country. It is SUPER awful for car seats...but it's what we've got so I'm trying to make it work.

Right now, we've got 3 car seats back there:
1) baby in a baby bucket in the third row passenger position
2) 5 year old harnessed in a forward-facing Frontier 85 with latch install taking up 2 seating positions--3rd row center and driver side. (seriously, who designed this 3rd row?)
3) 3 yr old in a rear-facing Radian in the passenger captain's chair.

We keep the driver side captain's chair stowed most of the time.

The baby is getting too heavy to lug around in the bucket, so I'm thinking it's time to play musical seats....in my head, it goes like this:

1) move 5 yr old to a booster and put him where the baby currently is (3rd row passenger)
2) move 3 yr old into the Frontier
3) move the baby into the Radian.

So...I'm in the market for a booster. I'm a booster idiot. Can anyone recommend something that will fit in that 3rd row passenger position?

Unfortunately, I know that your car's third row outboard belts are HORRIBLE for both boosters and five-steppers. They don't make contact with the body if using a backless, and stick in the guides when using the back.

You might have better luck putting the baby in a new convertible (or if you really want to move three year old to a combination, getting one for the second row, instead.)

ketchupqueen said:

Unfortunately, I know that your car's third row outboard belts are HORRIBLE for both boosters and five-steppers. They don't make contact with the body if using a backless, and stick in the guides when using the back.

You might have better luck putting the baby in a new convertible (or if you really want to move three year old to a combination, getting one for the second row, instead.)

Click to expand...

Hmm...so if I were to get a convertible for the baby, what brand of convertible will fit there and install properly? We have fixed buckle stalks...so they don't turn AT ALL. We tried installing a Radian in that third row both FF and RF and could NOT get a proper installation...so those are out. I also know that we've probably surpassed the kid+seat weight limit for the latch with the Frontier 85...so it's not so much that I want to un-RF the 3 yr old, but that I don't think it's optimal for the 5 yr old to be in that seat any more....but I'm at a loss for what else to do (short of selling this vehicle and buying a different one).

I'd give the Chicco Nextfit a try.

Have you tried both long and short belt path to install the Frontier with seatbelt? Your car's weight limit for lower anchors for that seat is 45 lbs child weight.

ketchupqueen said:

I'd give the Chicco Nextfit a try.

Have you tried both long and short belt path to install the Frontier with seatbelt? Your car's weight limit for lower anchors for that seat is 45 lbs child weight.

Click to expand...

We did try both long and short belt paths...neither resulted in a solid installation. Because of the fixed buckle stalks, we either could not get it tight enough or the angles made it so the bottom of the seat had ~6 inches of play (if we're really missing something and it's totally possible...like if you've personally done it successfully in a t & c with those fixed buckle stalks, please let me know and we'll go try again). Anyway...I weighed my 5 yr old again today and he's right at 42 lbs...

Eventually, he will need to move to a booster. Should I give up on finding one that works in that third row and try to booster him in one of the captains chairs?

I think you'll have more luck in the captains' chairs, if that's an option.

I have personally assisted in putting it in third row center, long belt path. It was a two person job (and we were both techs) but I remember getting an acceptable install. I don't recall what model year, though, and I know there have been a lot of small-but-significant changes between them.

I have successfully installed our Frontier 85 in the center of our third row using short belt path and top tether. It's there right now, actually.

My "trick" is to recline the seat temporarily - (pull the little webbing thing with the number 1 for the stow and go.) Then I thread the seatbelt through the short belt path and fasten it. It tightens and locks at the latch plate. You don't have to pull it all of the way out to lock it like the rest of the belts in the second and third row. If you do it doesn't lock anyways.
Then once the seatbelt is as tight as you can get it, go to the trunk area, pull the webbing strap for the recline and push the seat back into the most upright position. (A second person can be handy for this part to pull on the strap while you push with both hands.) This makes for a sufficiently tight installation. Then fasten the top tether and you should be set.

KQ, I can't get LBP for anything there. I don't think the seatbelt is long enough? Wish it was. I have used LBP outboard for the frontier 85 and it uses almost all of the belt there. But then there is no top tether there.

OP, I have also had decent luck with a seatbelt install of a Diono Radian RXT RF in the passenger side outboard seat (I can't remember if that actually fit next to the frontier but I think it did?)
It has to be the Diono though, for the new style of boot. I don't think it worked with the sunshine kids boot.

My current setup is Radian RF drivers side second row, Britax parkway passenger side second row and frontier 85 third row center installed with seatbelt and SBP. Sometimes we leave the 40percent third row seat down for access through the trunk. The kids love that and the third row kid gets his own "door".

For a high back booster that works third row outboard with those annoying shoulder belts, I use a Recaro Vivo. It is not made anymore though. I have heard the Evenflo AMP works there but have not tried it myself. (Also a kiddy booster but it is pricier than either of the others I mentioned, and I haven't tried one of those either.)

Ok...good to know how you made the belt install work with the Frontier 85. We'll have to go give that a try.

Ahh...yes...that's right...we didn't have enough belt for the long belt path install...we had enough failed installation attempts that they are all blending together in my head and I'm getting confused about why the different seats didn't work in the various positions we tried.

Ooooooh. Ok. I didn't realize there were changes like that between Sunshine Kids and Diono. Pretty sure our failed attempts with a Radian in that 3rd row were with a Sunshine Kids XTSL. DH has a Diono Radian of some kind (not the RXT...one of the other ones) in his truck, so we'll definitely have to try that out.

I'm somewhat deterred by the unfavorable reviews on the AMP that say it sucks for the kid to sit in it. But wow. $200+ for a Kiddy!?! If we can make the seatbelt install work for the Frontier and get our Diono Radian in that 3rd row passenger spot, maybe I'll just leave the 5 yr old harnessed forever

One more question...does anybody know if The First Years Compass Pathway B570 would work in the 3rd row passenger position? Someone in an old thread mentioned the B540, which is similar...it looks like the B570 is cheaper than a Kiddy but not as bare bones as the AMP.

P.S. Sorry if this thread is in the wrong subforum! I just realized there's a general help area, too.